Author's Note: Hello all. Thank you for all the great reviews. Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
Rafe was standing in the cargo bay of Serenity with Zoe and Mal. "Zoe, you remember my son, Milo." Rafe presented a young man who looked nothing like his large, brawny father. Milo was sinuous and compact but he reached his father's height. His copper hair was kept neat unlike his father's matted curls.
"Hi, Milo." Zoe hugged the young man.
"Hey, Zoe." Milo smiled.
"How have you been, kid?"
"Good. Father says now that I'm nineteen I have to start learning the business."
Zoe gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. "You'll do right by your father; you always were a good kid." She ruffled his hair.
Milo drifted off to the side smoothing his hair as his father started to speak.
"I was surprised to get your call so soon," Rafe stated. "Tempus is at two day trip one way. I thought I was going to end up having to pay you a bonus for such quick delivery." His arms were crossed over his chest. He was eyeing Zoe and Mal carefully.
"I understand your concern for the job, Rafe, but two of my crew 've been poisoned."
"Including my daughter," Zoe added.
Rafe's arms dropped his sides. "What in the ruttin' hell happened?"
"We ain't got time for a story…maybe at bedtime," Mal growled.
"Captain!" Zoe stepped between Mal and Rafe.
"Zoe, I've been telling you for years that you need to get off this ship and away from Reynolds here before he gets you and your baby girl killed."
Mal's jaw tightened.
"Hell, Zoe, he already got Wash killed."
Mal stepped forward, Zoe pushed him back. "I will shoot you again, Rafe!"
Rafe's boisterous laugh filled the ship.
"Both of you knock it off!" Zoe pulled out her gun and cocked it.
"What in the ruttin' hell is going on here?" Jayne's voice came from above them. River was standing quietly behind him, peering over his shoulder.
"Nothing," Mal replied taking several steps away from Zoe and Rafe. "I'm going to the bridge to wait for Inara. Call me if there's a problem." Mal stormed up the steps and into the belly of Serenity.
"Is everything okay?" Simon peered out from sickbay.
"Everything's fine, doc. Go back to Kaylee." Zoe put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze.
Simon glanced up at River who was peering down at him with large brown eyes. She gave him a tentative smile. He tried to smile back but he felt incapable. He took a deep breath and turned and went back in the infirmary.
Inara carefully wandered through the hospital. It seemed unusually busy, and it made it easier for her to blend in. Even if she was stopped, she could talk her way out of just about anything, especially when a man was involved. She watched as a young, male doctor approached the door she needed to get behind.
She approached just as he put his card up to the security pad. "Excuse me?" she called.
He turned around and was immediately drawn to her, his eyes tracing over her curvaceous body. "Hello, Miss," he greeted. His eager smile let her know he was already putty in her hands.
"Hello," she blushed intentionally. "I seemed to be having a problem."
He reached for her as she wavered on her feet. "What's wrong?" His tone was full of concern.
"Can we just sit down?" She led him into the room that had been off limits to her only moments ago. He helped her inside. He set her down on a chair and knelt in front of her. "Are you dizzy? How long has it been since you've eaten something?"
Inara glanced down at his hands that were applying gentle pressure to her thighs. "Just a couple of hours ago. I just feel faint," she said weakly. She put her hands on his shoulders. "Thank god, you came along." She looked longingly into his deep brown eyes. His hands slid up to her waist and he leaned in to kiss her.
With one solid thrust of her elbow she knocked him unconscious. There were times when Mal's brute behavior came in handy. The doctor crumpled to the floor and Inara began searching through the bottles of medicine looking for the one Simon had instructed.
"Yes!" She yanked a few of vials off the shelf and slid them into her purse. She made for the door, but it slid open before she could reach it. She backed into the room. She was trapped.
Mal stared into the cave Serenity was sitting in…hiding in, he thought to himself. He looked over at River's pilot seat and scanned the dinosaurs that had not been moved since Wash's death. Had it really been three years? Every day he wished it had been himself instead of Wash. Wash was a good man, a married man and now even a father in the wake of his death.
Maybe Rafe was right, these people he called his crew were good people. They deserved better than the danger he put them in with his failing heroics. Zoe was right, heroes got people killed. What was he trying to prove, anyhow?
"You weren't trying to prove anything." River's voice startled him.
"It's not polite to eaves drop," Mal replied turning toward her.
Her lithe figure leaned in the doorway, her chestnut tendrils trailing over her shoulder. "Can't help it, you're loud. Even if I wasn't physic I would know what was wrong."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "How's that?"
"You picked me up in the Maidenhead and you brought me back to Serenity. You didn't have to. It wasn't your job to rescue me and you knew that. You cared about me. You care still, just like you do for the rest of your crew. Wash was a friend and your crew and to you that's family, since your real family was taken from you."
Mal stared at the young girl who talked like an old woman who had seen everything. And maybe in her short life, she had. The girl was nearly twenty and had blossomed out of the crazy girl he had first met.
"Not everything, Captain. Still got plenty to do." River sauntered across the floor with elegant, precise movement to the pilot's chair and sat.
"What do you have to do?" he asked.
She smiled coyly. "There are still a lot of firsts I haven't covered yet."
Mal cleared his throat. "Right." Mal stared at the clock. "Come on, Inara, where are you?"
"I've made you uncomfortable." She pulled her knee up to rest her chin on.
Mal shook his head. "There are times it's hard for me to acknowledge that you're growing up. To me you're still a little albatross, but you're not, you've grown into quite a young woman, River."
"You think that I'll leave Serenity some day."
"Won't you? There's plenty more stuff out there than just thieving and getting shot at."
"Yeah, there's flying." She turned the chair so she was facing the helm. "That's the greatest thing in the world. Never thought I would ever feel whole and I might never, but flying Serenity is the closest thing." River spun her chair around. "Who are you?"
Mal looked over his shoulder at Rafe's son. "That's Milo, Rafe's son," Mal muttered.
"You were down in the cargo bay," River replied.
Milo stared at River for a long moment. Finally he spoke, "I…I'm sorry, I was just wandering around. Zoe and Dad were…" He turned to leave.
"I'll give you a proper tour. The Captain doesn't want company either." River moved off the seat in an elegant manner. She drifted toward Milo escorting him back into the belly of the ship.
"I don't think your Captain likes me much."
River glanced over at Milo. "It's not you," she replied simply.
"What do you do on the ship?"
"I'm a pilot." She spun into the kitchen. "Are you hungry?"
"No, thank you." Milo leaned in the doorway, watching her float across the space. "It looks like you're a dancer too."
"I suppose." She stopped and looked over at him and tilted her head. "What do you do?"
"I follow my father around from meeting to meeting while he teaches me the fine art of selling stolen goods."
"That's not what you do," River replied.
He stepped into the room. "What do you mean?"
"The painting of your mother, the last time you saw her before she died."
He narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"It's all there. You painted a girl; you thought she was the most beautiful girl you had ever seen. Long, blonde hair…but when she ignored you and said mean things you destroyed the canvas. You shouldn't have done that, it was beautiful, you made her beautiful with your hands."
Milo crossed his arms over his chest. "How do you know about that? No one knows that I'm…"
"Don't try to hard to figure it out, boy." Jayne's voice came from behind them. "She's a good guesser."
"She's a reader," Milo returned.
"I do read," River said.
"You're River Tam. I remember seeing your face on the wanted list a couple of years back," Milo exclaimed.
River titled her head as she looked at Milo. "You thought about painting me."
Milo blushed.
"Not so excitin' now, is it?" Jayne nudged the boy and walked over to get himself a drink.
"Milo! We're leavin'!" Rafe's bellow echoed through the ship.
"I should go." He turned to River. "It was nice to meet you." He held out his hand.
River shook his hand. "It was nice to meet you too," she replied.
He gazed a moment longer into her brown eyes. River looked away as her cheeks glowed with embarrassment. Milo grinned and left.
River smiled. Jayne stared at her for a long moment.
"What's with you?" he growled.
"He thinks I'm the most beautiful girl he's ever seen."
Jayne rolled his eyes. "Great, someone else gone all moony-eyed and gaga. Any more people start fallin' in love and I'm definitely getting off this boat."
River held out her foot as he tromped by her. He stumbled over her and caught himself just before he landed face first on the floor. He retained his footing and turned on her.
"You're asking for it now, little girl."
She extended her hand and waved him to her, her lips curving into a smile.
"Hey, doc, is there anything I can do?" Jayne entered the eerily silent infirmary. Zoe was resting next to Lily who was now sweating and shivering. Kaylee looked green in the florescent lighting, and her dark circles under her eyes matched Simon's.
Simon peered over at him. "No word from Inara?" he asked.
"'Fraid not."
"What happened to you?" Simon asked looking at Jayne's cut lip and reddened jaw.
"Ah, nothing, your sister's silly boot caught me." He looked down at Kaylee's frail figure. "There's still time, right, doc?"
Simon peered down at Kaylee's limp hand in his. "Not much," he murmured.
"Dr. Berkhart?" a young nurse questioned staring down at the couple on the floor.
"We just needed a few minutes, dear. We've just become engaged," Inara muttered peering over the unconscious doctor's shoulder as she held him up in a false intimate embrace.
"Oh! Congratulations. But you two really shouldn't be back here. Hospital personnel only."
"We won't be but a minute," Inara giggled as if Dr. Berkhart had tickled her.
She hesitated a moment, "All right, but be quick." The nurse backed out of the room. Inara let out a long sigh and tossed the unconscious doctor onto the floor in a heap. She straightened herself out, double checked the vials and tip-toed out of the storage room.
She made her way toward the exit.
"Inara?"
She froze at the sound of the familiar voice. She turned around. Standing behind her in all of his elegant possessions and arrogant demeanor was Atherton Wing.
"Atherton," she nodded politely.
"What are you doing here, Inara?"
"Check up," she replied.
"Hope everything checked out okay."
"Fine." She smiled, peering around. "I don't want to be rude, but I'm in quite a hurry."
"Of course. Are you still flying on that piece of…"
"Serenity is still flying high and proud," Inara replied. "If you don't mind…" She curtsied politely and started for the glass doors.
"Inara." Atherton grabbed her elbow and pulled him toward her.
"Let me go," she ordered quietly.
"Hear me out."
"Honestly, it's a matter of life and death, Atherton. Send me a wave, we can talk later."
"Life and death? Allow me to give you a ride."
Her eyes narrowed. "You just got here; don't you have business to attend to?"
"It can wait, you're far more important." His grip remained tight on her arm.
"I have a shuttle just outside. I'm fine." She yanked herself away from him and tried to escape once again.
"Inara," he called after her.
She broke into a run, desperate to get away. She lifted her dress and ran down the steps leading down to the shuttle pads. She heard his steps behind her. She didn't stop to look back. She climbed on board her shuttle and guided it into the air, hurrying for Serenity. She watched as security poured out of the mouth of the hospital. She let out a sigh, hoping she would make it to Serenity without further delay.
"We got a wave from Inara she's on her way back with the goods," Mal said entering the infirmary. "How are they doing?"
"Kaylee's heart beat is erratic." Simon was injecting the young girl with something. "She's going to go into cardiac arrest if this keeps up." Simon watched the heart monitor he had hooked her up to a couple of hours ago.
"Lily?"
"She's ill, but if she gets the medicine soon she should pull out of it just fine."
Kaylee flat lined, the long, high pitched alarm rang through the infirmary. Simon ripped open her shirt. "Get me a shot of adrenalin." Mal charged to the drawer and pulled out one of the very large syringes.
"I got the…" Inara froze in the doorway and she watched Simon and Mal try to save Kaylee's life.
River sat just outside of the infirmary listening to Simon shout out orders. Zoe administered Lily the antidote. River stepped further and further out of the room until she collided with something solid. She peered over her shoulder to find Jayne standing behind her, his hands on her arms to steady her. He was looking over at Kaylee.
"What's going on?" he whispered in a daze. He knew what was going on, River felt it, but he didn't want to think about losing little Kaylee. He always thought of Kaylee as his little sister, that's why he gave her so much trouble. He liked to tease her.
River's focus shifted when Simon barked another order. She muster all the energy she could to try and hear Kaylee. Nothing. She simply wasn't there any longer.
River's hands clenched into fists. She slipped out of Jayne's grip and ran down the hall. She entered the cargo bay. She darted down the steps toward the empty shuttle. She flipped the switches and the shuttle hummed with power and life. She departed from Serenity and headed home for the last time.
To Be Continued...